Compared to the deserted state of the two stalls on either side, Zhao Minghui's sweet-skinned duck stall still had workers coming to patronize it, some buying sweet-skinned duck and others buying braised peanuts.
It was Saturday, and the sweet-skinned duck was selling well; four out of the six ducks made that day had already been sold.
"The braised peanuts haven't been selling as well these past few days, about half as much as last week. If this continues, will we sell even less next week?" Zhang Xiuqin said with some worry as she packed up the sweet-skinned duck and handed it to a customer.
"It's alright. Zhou Yan said he won't be making duck. We just need to focus on making good sweet-skinned duck." Zhao Minghui laughed heartily. "Besides, we tried his braised vegetarian dishes yesterday, and they were really delicious. If I was a customer, I would buy braised lotus root and braised potatoes for forty cents a jin. We should be secretly happy that our braised peanuts can still be sold."
After saying that, he glanced at Yang Laosan and Zhu Feng beside him, who were looking dejected, and his smile became even brighter: "Seeing them have bad luck makes me happier than if I sold twenty more jin of braised peanuts."
Zhang Xiuqin laughed upon hearing this, feeling a sense of relief as she recalled the days when they had joined forces to suppress them.
…
"Aunt Zhao, is the restaurant really not open tomorrow? I was planning to bring my friends over for dinner."
"Yes, I also made plans with my friend. I told her I'd bring her to eat crucian carp with perilla leaves tomorrow, since she loves fish the most."
A notice board stood at the restaurant entrance: Closed tomorrow, no banquet reservations. Customers kept coming in to confirm.
"Good girls, I'm so sorry, Zhou Yan has something to do tomorrow, so we can't open the restaurant." Zhao Tieying apologized with a smile. Today, at least ten customers had come to inquire about this matter, and all the customers she turned down were business.
But there was nothing she could do. Zhou Yan said he was going to Jiazhou with his Master for some kind of chef exchange meeting tomorrow at noon. The three of them alone couldn't handle it.
Hearing this, the customers could only sigh helplessly and leave. Zhou Yan was Zhou Erwa Restaurant's only chef. If he had something to do, the restaurant definitely wouldn't be open.
The restaurant closed for the evening.
Aunt Zhao looked at Zhou Yan as he came out and asked curiously, "Zhou Yan, what's that chef exchange meeting all about? More than fifteen tables wanted to book today, and I had to turn them all down."
"My Master wants to take me to broaden my horizons and meet my Grandmaster Uncle, Kong Qingfeng, the former head chef of Le Ming Restaurant and a famous chef in Jiazhou." Zhou Yan said with a smile.
"The sect, huh? That's indeed quite important." Aunt Zhao said thoughtfully, then added, "Then wear your new clothes tomorrow, don't embarrass your Master."
"Okay." Zhou Yan replied with a smile.
...
Night.
Aunt Zhao and the others had already gone upstairs to rest.
Zhou Yan finished counting the money and solemnly wrote in the savings column: 4318.24 yuan.
Thanks to the brisk sales of braised vegetables and braised beef, this week's savings balance reached 2158.66 yuan.
Current savings progress for home purchase: 43%!
Zhou Yan couldn't help but rub his hands together. It was getting closer and closer!
He earned a lot everyday, but it was definitely tiring.
After a busy day, the tough guy Comrade Old Zhou didn't play chess with him anymore. He soaked his feet and went upstairs to sleep. He hadn't even gone fishing these past few days, getting a little lost in the endless cutting of potatoes and pig's head meat.
Sister in law Zhao Hong was also visibly exhausted. When she got off work, all she could see was the longing for the weekend.
The most energetic person in the entire restaurant was Aunt Zhao. In the evening, she would help Zhou Momo wash up and sing nursery rhymes to lull her to sleep. She always gave people a feeling of being full of energy and lived up to her name as an Iron lady.
Zhou Yan's advantage lies in his youth and his daily exercise routine, which allows him to be full of energy the next day after a good night's sleep.
As for making money, he never felt tired.
He's short of money but loves money, that's him for sure.
He carried the box upstairs, pulled out a larger wooden box from under the bed, took out the key to unlock it, and poured the money, bundled together in stacks of one hundred from the small box, into the large box.
Most of it was small change, large sums were a rarity.
Don't underestimate these ten cents.
One ten cents can buy two pieces of hand-pulled maltose candies, enough to make Zhou Momo happy for an entire afternoon.
Saving them up ten cents by ten cents, he could soon buy a house.
The box was locked and pushed back under the bed.
Zhou Yan climbed into bed, picked up the book of "How The Steel Was Tempered" still on the second page from the head of bed, and began to read:
"Pavel Korchagin..."
The book was gently placed over his face, and Zhou Yan fell asleep instantly.
That's probably the charm of Pavel Korchagin.
Long foreign names do seem to make it easier to sleep.
In the past, when Zhou Yan had trouble sleeping while editing videos, he would open a novel called "Dad's Restaurant In Another World" and fall asleep after flipping through three pages.
The next day, just as dawn was breaking…
Comrade Little Zhou got up, pulled back the curtains, stared blankly for a while, then lay back down for a nap.
Indeed, a weekend is only a weekend if you don't have to work.
Zhou Yan slept until nine o'clock before waking up. He got up, changed into his new chef's uniform and new pants, and pushed open the door. There was a pair of leather shoes by the door, the same pair he had bought for Comrade Old Zhou last time.
After hesitating for a moment, Zhou Yan changed his liberation shoes for leather shoes.
Sure enough, the suit trousers with the leather shoes gave him an instantly different look.
He put on his watch, then thought for a moment, took it off, and placed it under the covers on the head of the bed.
He could dress presentably, so as not to embarrass his Master.
But a grand-disciple, dressed in new clothes and wearing a brand-new Shanghai watch, seemed somewhat like the guest was overshadowing the host.
Zhou Yan didn't really care, but he had to consider his Master's feelings.
The November morning was already a bit chilly, but a twenty years old wouldn't be bothered by the cold. When Zhou Yan went downstairs, he didn't even glance at the jacket hanging beside his bed.
Zhou Momo woke up even earlier than him today, and was sitting properly at the table eating slightly burnt pancakes. When she saw Zhou Yan come downstairs, she looked at him like he was a savior: "Guo Guo, I want to eat noodles~~"
"Aren't you eating pancakes? I'm not making noodles this morning." Zhou Yan laughed. "What's wrong? Don't Mom's pancakes taste good?"
"It's delicious, I love it." Zhou Momo opened her mouth wide and took a bite, then handed the pancake in her hand to Zhou Yan, "Guo Guo, here, you have some too."
"Zhou Momo, finish your own pancake! I left some in the pot for your Guo Guo." Aunt Zhao raised her voice three notches, turned her gaze to Zhou Yan, and nodded with a smile as she looked at the leather shoes on his feet. "Sure enough, leather shoes make you look much more comfortable. Your Dad went fishing, and he said he'd lend you his leather shoes."
"Okay." Zhou Yan nodded, went into the kitchen, and brought out the warm pancake, along with a plate of pickled radishes.
This pancake does look rather unprofessional. It's thick and the edges are a bit burnt, but it smells like eggs, which means Aunt Zhao did add eggs to the flour, and that's a plus.
Wrap it with pickled radish, and a pickled radish roll is ready. The chewy pancake is filled with sour and spicy radish. One bite, and....it has a unique flavor.
He can eat his mom's pancakes as soon as he wakes up in the morning, so whether they taste good or not is no longer that important.
Seeing how much he enjoyed his food, Zhou Momo followed suit, adding two slices of pickled radish to her pancake, rolling it up, and taking a bite. Her eyes immediately lit up: "It's sour and delicious!"
After breakfast, Zhou Yan sharpened his knife, tucked it into his cloth bag, and pushed his bicycle out the door.
"It's a bit cold, aren't you going to wear a jacket?" Aunt Zhao asked from behind.
"No need, it's too hot to ride a bicycle." Zhou Yan replied, hopping on his bicycle and pedaling quite a distance.
He met up with his Master and Zheng Qiang at the stone bridge, and they rode side by side towards Jiazhou.
"Master, are there any rules for attending this exchange meeting today? Is there any conflict between our sect and our Grandmaster Uncle's sect? Should we go to support them or cause trouble?" Zhou Yan asked Xiao Lei on the way.
Zheng Qiang, who had been focused on pedaling his bicycle, quickly moved closer and listened attentively.
"What are you talking about?" Xiao Lei looked at him and laughed irritably, "A chef exchange meeting, it's definitely for exchanging culinary skills."
"That's not necessarily true. Class reunions aren't always about reminiscing about youth." Zhou Yan said with a smile.
Zheng Qiang interjected, "That makes sense. Last month, I had my elementary school reunion. I heard that three couples were broken up, and there was a huge fight afterwards. Luckily, I didn't attend."
Xiao Lei glanced at the two of them and shook his head. "Remember, this is the first time you two are meeting your Grandmaster Uncle. Call him respectfully.
When your Grandmaster Uncle was young, he was quite stubborn and didn't get along well with your Grandmaster. For a time, they even had a falling out over the matter of taking on disciples, and he was very unfriendly to me and my senior brothers."
See? The juicy gossip has been dug up!
Zhou Yan's eyes lit up, and he asked curiously, "Master, what happened back then?"
Zheng Qiang also looked on with a gossipy expression, and he and Zhou Yan flanked Xiao Lei from the left and right.
"It's a long story..." Xiao Lei hesitated, seemingly reluctant to elaborate on the topic.
Zhou Yan hurriedly said, "Master, please get to the point and tell us the whole story so we know what's going on."
"Yes, yes, yes, so we don't say the wrong thing." Zheng Qiang nodded frantically.
Xiao Lei was silent for a moment, then the bicycle gradually slowed down before he spoke, "That all started with your Grandmaster Kong Huaifeng's father, who was also the founder of our Kong Sect, Master Kong Rui.
Kong Rui was a famous chef in the Sichuan cuisine industry. He was the head chef at the Governor's Mansion and was quite well-known. After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, he returned to Jiazhou and became the head chef at the Le Ming Restaurant, where he worked for thirty years.
During this time, your Grandmaster Kong Huaifeng and Grandmaster Uncle Kong Qingfeng both became his apprentices, learning his family's culinary traditions through private instruction. The Kong Sect of cooking originated here.
In 1945, the Great Grandmaster passed away, and your Grandmaster Kong Huaifeng had inherited his mantle, becoming a well-known young chef in Jiazhou. He was hired as the head chef of the Le Ming Restaurant and took over his father's position.
At that time, Le Ming Restaurant was a well-known restaurant in Jiazhou City, and it was just as good as Feiyan Restaurant.
After liberation, Le Ming Restaurant was nationalized and became the main venue for receiving superiors and dignitaries. The number and quality of its chefs far surpassed those of Feiyan Restaurant.
I joined the Le Ming Restaurant in 1955. My family was so poor we couldn't even afford to eat. At first, I was responsible for kitchen chores, serving food, and doing odd jobs. I was just happy to have a meal to eat.
Later, the Le Ming Restaurant responded to the provincial government's call to run culinary training classes, having the head chefs teach the younger people. In those days, most culinary skills were family heirlooms, skills that sustained a person's livelihood, no one was willing to easily teach them to others.
At this point, your Grandmaster, Kong Huaifeng, stepped forward and volunteered to be the main lecturer, preparing to impart his skills. Because of this, Kong Qingfeng and he had a very ugly falling out, Kong Qingfeng didn't want him to publicly teach their family's culinary skills, and the leaders had to intervene and mediate many times.
Later, the training course still started. I started by auditing, and gradually showed considerable talent. Eventually, I was accepted as your Grandmaster's last disciple.
Back then in the kitchen, the four of us brothers often suffered the scorn of your Grandmaster Uncle. If we made a mistake, we'd get a scolding even more severe than your Grandmaster."
"Then this Grandmaster Uncle's vision isn't very broad. The old men at Rongcheng Restaurant and Rongleyuan all work together to compile teaching materials and publish books. The young chefs they train are all trained on a term basis. As long as they are diligent and willing to learn, they are happy to teach them." Zheng Qiang curled his lips. "When I was at Rongcheng Restaurant, although I mainly learned cooking from my Master, the other old men would also give me pointers. My Master never held back when teaching other chefs, and I always followed along."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Yan was even more surprised by the noble character of Grandmaster Kong Huaifeng. The Kong family's culinary skills originated from the Grandmaster's father. After inheriting them, he was willing to teach and pass them on to more young chefs. Such awareness and broad-mindedness were admirable.
Zhou Yan admitted he couldn't do it, at least not right now, he couldn't bring himself to share his recipes with the public without reservation.
He… was perhaps closer to Kong Qingfeng.
When it comes to family-inherited skills, the first thing that comes to mind is one's own family.
For example, he passed on the recipe and method of making Cross-legged Beef to Zhou Jie and Zhou Hai, so that they could pass it on and make a living with this skill and live a better life.
Even with He Zhiyuan's persuasive skills and the allure of the cover of "Sichuan Cuisine" magazine, he remained unmoved.
Therefore, he was selfish.
He couldn't become a master.
Standing on the same side, he naturally has no right to criticize Kong Qingfeng.
However, without a selfless master like Kong Huaifeng, his Master, Zheng Qiang's master, might never have been able to achieve such success in the culinary world.
He interviewed several senior Sichuan cuisine masters, all of whom mentioned Rongleyuan, an important technical training base of Rongcheng Catering Company, which cultivated a group of outstanding Sichuan cuisine chefs and was known as the "Whampoa Military Academy of Sichuan cuisine".
Back then, the Sichuan cuisine masters genuinely shared their skills with young chefs. If you had the aptitude and were willing to work hard, you could learn real techniques.
At the time, Zhou Yan only heard it as an interesting anecdote, a supplement to the videos, and didn't take it to heart.
But hearing about this from his master, and now experiencing this era himself, his feelings were somewhat different.
Isn't the inheritance and development of Sichuan cuisine precisely due to these selfless masters who broke with the tradition of family-based private teaching?
Xiao Lei shook his head with a smile: "Back then, I also felt that my Master Uncle lacked vision, but after thinking about it later, I can understand. The Kong Sect is surnamed Kong, and it was originally a family-inherited skill, the capital for a family to make a living, passed down from generation to generation.
Later, Kong Qingfeng insisted on selecting several descendants of the Kong family to take as his apprentices and carefully cultivate them."
'"How well have they achieved?" Zheng Qiang asked.
"None of them have achieved great things." Xiao Lei replied.
"I knew it!" Zheng Qiang smiled smugly. "Our Grandmaster was so farsighted! If he insists on passing down the skill through Kong family, our Kong Sect's skills would probably have been lost within three generations."
Xiao Lei smiled and shook his head, saying, "Your Grandmaster Uncle's relationship with your Grandmaster has gradually improved as he's gotten older. Perhaps he's realized that none of his younger generation can fully inherit the Kong Sect's skills.
Although he no longer takes on apprentices, but he no longer hides his skills. He and your Grandmaster teach together at Le Ming Restaurant. Over the past seven or eight years, they've had successfully trained many young chefs.
A few years ago, your Grandmaster's health deteriorated, and he went to the restaurant's kitchen less often. It was your Grandmaster Uncle who took over the cooking training classes, running them successfully and training several second level chefs.
Thanks to his outstanding contributions over the years, after your Grandmaster's death, he also became the highly respected Second Master Kong in the Jiazhou culinary world.
I've visited him a few times over the years, and each time he'd pull me aside to talk about cooking, genuinely teaching me a lot of real skills."
As he spoke, Xiao Lei paused, looked at Zheng Qiang and said, "Speaking of which, your Master probably visited more times than I did. When he was taking the Level 1 Chef exam, he even came back to ask his Master Uncle for advice, and he passed on his first try."
"That time he came back to drink with me, and he told me that our Master Uncle was becoming more and more enlightened and more and more like our Master. He said that we should respect him more in the future, visit him during the Chinese New Year and holidays, and treat him with the same filial piety as our Master."
"If your Master heard what you just said, you'd be in big trouble."
Zheng Qiang stopped laughing, his lips trembling slightly, and he said with a bitter face, "Master Uncle, next time can you at least give me the conclusion first? This is just setting me up..."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Yan couldn't help but laugh, and teased Zheng Qiang, "Senior Brother Zheng, Senior Master Uncle might take better care of you next time he comes back."
"No, no, Junior Brother!" Zheng Qiang quickly said, "Just pretend you didn't hear what I said today. I'll treat you to drinks later."
Although his Master wouldn't expel him, but his cousin could beat him without any fear. Even though he was thirty, his cousin would still beat him with a shoe and make him run all over the street.
Zhou Yan grinned, "Don't worry, my mouth can't hold back."
"Good brother."
"Huh? Something's wrong with you!"
The three of them chatted and laughed all the way, riding their bicycles to the Old Le Ming Restaurant.
The original sign has been removed, and now it reads "Jiazhou Catering Company Technical Training Base".
"Uncle Huang." Xiao Lei greeted the gatekeeper familiarly, leading Zhou Yan and Zheng Qiang into the courtyard with their bicycles.
"This used to be the Le Ming Restaurant. Originally, this area consisted of single-story buildings with private booths and rooms. Later, because it was too dilapidated, it was moved to the current Le Ming Restaurant, a two-story brick and wood building with upgraded decor, making banquets much more impressive." After parking their bicycles in the courtyard, Xiao Lei led them around, explaining, "After this area was left unused, it was transformed into a technical training base, specifically for training young chefs from Jiazhou."
"Master, is this where you learned to cook?" Zhou Yan asked.
"Yes, I came here when I was fifteen. Later, I went to the textile factory canteen with your Grandmaster and stayed there for over twenty years.
Back then, your Grandmaster was transferred back to the Le Ming Restaurant after three years, so I had to shuttle between the two places. I cooked in the factory canteen kitchen, and in my spare time, I would come to your Grandmaster to continue learning his skills.
Back then, I couldn't afford a bicycle, and the wages were low, so I relied entirely on my own two feet, walking for more than two hours each way.
What I looked forward to most was Saturdays. As soon as the dinner is ready at the factory canteen, and then I'll head towards Jiazhou, trying to reach the dormitory at the Le Ming Restaurant before dark. Your Grandmaster's wife would know I was coming and would save food for me.
After I finished eating, I started practicing flipping the wok and knife skills. My Master would lean back in a recliner in the corner of the yard and give me pointers from time to time. If I still couldn't do it right after he explained it three times, he would grab a feather duster that was placed to the side and hit me.
Of course, I wasn't stupid. I would run away when he chased me, and then go back to him when he got tired. By then, my Master's anger had subsided considerably, and the feather duster wouldn't hurt me at all.
I'd even playfully yell a couple of times. My Master's wife, unable to bear it any longer, would come out to protect me, saying I was still just a little kid, and then scold my Master instead…"
Recounting this experience, Xiao Lei's tone was calm, a gentle smile on his face.
Suddenly, he paused, looked at the corner of the yard, and sighed softly: "The recliner is gone, and I'm not a little kid anymore."
Zhou Yan and Zheng Qiang both fell silent.
Zhou Yan looked at the corner of the wall, where the autumn wind was blowing and a few fallen leaves were drifting down.
He seemed to see the old chef sitting in the recliner in the corner, smiling at them.
"Xiao Lei, you're here!" A voice broke the silence.
A middle-aged man with a square face, dressed in a chef's uniform with the words "Le Ming Restaurant" embroidered on the chest, walked briskly over with a smile on his face.
"Senior Brother Guodong." Xiao Lei quickly stepped forward to greet him, shaking his hand with a smile, "Long time no see. How has Master Uncle been lately?"
Kong Guodong said with a smile, "He's doing well. He's in great spirits. He goes fishing by the river for half a day every morning and then comes to the base at a leisurely pace. His classes are all scheduled for the afternoon, once every other day."
His gaze fell on Zhou Yan and Zheng Qiang, and he asked with a smile, "Are these two your apprentices?"
"This is your Senior Master Uncle Kong, Kong Guodong, my Master Uncle's outstanding disciple." Xiao Lei introduced Kong Guodong first.
Zhou Yan and Zheng Qiang immediately greeted him respectfully, "Senior Master Uncle Kong."
Xiao Lei then introduced them separately:
"This is Zheng Qiang, Senior Brother Yunliang's apprentice. He returned from the Rongcheng restaurant and has recently been working as a village chef with me."
"This is Zhou Yan, my apprentice. He owns a restaurant in Suji, and business is quite good."
Kong Guodong smiled and shook hands with the two men: "Hello, hello, you are both outstanding disciples of our Kong Sect."
"Senior Brother Yunliang couldn't come because he was too busy with work. My Master was still talking about it this morning. My Master must be very happy that Zheng Qiang, as Senior Brother Yunliang's disciple, can come." Kong Guodong said, looking at Zheng Qiang.
"My Master often talks about Grandmaster Uncle." Zheng Qiang quickly straightened his back, afraid of embarrassing his Master.
"This Junior Nephew is truly a handsome young man. You look quite young. You must be Junior Brother Xiao Lei's first formal disciple, right? You can already run your own restaurant. You must have great talent." Kong Guodong looked at Zhou Yan with admiration.
"Senior Master Uncle, you flatter me." Zhou Yan smiled.
His Master said that the descendants of the Kong family had not achieved great things, but this Senior Master Uncle Kong's way of speaking was truly profound and forceful.
That's not simple.